diff --git a/core/bench_test.go b/core/bench_test.go
index ac5b57bc8..1ecd87cbd 100644
--- a/core/bench_test.go
+++ b/core/bench_test.go
@@ -176,3 +176,122 @@ func benchInsertChain(b *testing.B, disk bool, gen func(int, *BlockGen)) {
 		b.Fatalf("insert error (block %d): %v\n", i, err)
 	}
 }
+
+func BenchmarkChainRead_header_10k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchReadChain(b, false, 10000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainRead_full_10k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchReadChain(b, true, 10000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainRead_header_100k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchReadChain(b, false, 100000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainRead_full_100k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchReadChain(b, true, 100000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainRead_header_500k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchReadChain(b, false, 500000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainRead_full_500k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchReadChain(b, true, 500000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainWrite_header_10k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchWriteChain(b, false, 10000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainWrite_full_10k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchWriteChain(b, true, 10000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainWrite_header_100k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchWriteChain(b, false, 100000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainWrite_full_100k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchWriteChain(b, true, 100000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainWrite_header_500k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchWriteChain(b, false, 500000)
+}
+func BenchmarkChainWrite_full_500k(b *testing.B) {
+	benchWriteChain(b, true, 500000)
+}
+
+// makeChainForBench writes a given number of headers or empty blocks/receipts
+// into a database.
+func makeChainForBench(db ethdb.Database, full bool, count uint64) {
+	var hash common.Hash
+	for n := uint64(0); n < count; n++ {
+		header := &types.Header{
+			Coinbase:    common.Address{},
+			Number:      big.NewInt(int64(n)),
+			ParentHash:  hash,
+			Difficulty:  big.NewInt(1),
+			UncleHash:   types.EmptyUncleHash,
+			TxHash:      types.EmptyRootHash,
+			ReceiptHash: types.EmptyRootHash,
+		}
+		hash = header.Hash()
+		WriteHeader(db, header)
+		WriteCanonicalHash(db, hash, n)
+		WriteTd(db, hash, big.NewInt(int64(n+1)))
+		if full || n == 0 {
+			block := types.NewBlockWithHeader(header)
+			WriteBody(db, hash, block.Body())
+			WriteBlockReceipts(db, hash, nil)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func benchWriteChain(b *testing.B, full bool, count uint64) {
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "eth-chain-bench")
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("cannot create temporary directory: %v", err)
+		}
+		db, err := ethdb.NewLDBDatabase(dir, 128, 1024)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("error opening database at %v: %v", dir, err)
+		}
+		makeChainForBench(db, full, count)
+		db.Close()
+		os.RemoveAll(dir)
+	}
+}
+
+func benchReadChain(b *testing.B, full bool, count uint64) {
+	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "eth-chain-bench")
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("cannot create temporary directory: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
+
+	db, err := ethdb.NewLDBDatabase(dir, 128, 1024)
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("error opening database at %v: %v", dir, err)
+	}
+	makeChainForBench(db, full, count)
+	db.Close()
+
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.ResetTimer()
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		db, err := ethdb.NewLDBDatabase(dir, 128, 1024)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("error opening database at %v: %v", dir, err)
+		}
+		chain, err := NewBlockChain(db, testChainConfig(), FakePow{}, new(event.TypeMux))
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("error creating chain: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		for n := uint64(0); n < count; n++ {
+			header := chain.GetHeaderByNumber(n)
+			if full {
+				hash := header.Hash()
+				GetBody(db, hash)
+				GetBlockReceipts(db, hash)
+			}
+		}
+
+		db.Close()
+	}
+}